


taking the chance (making a move)

by Irratia



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex gets his first piercing, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Crushes, F/M, Gay Disaster Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), M/M, Mutual Pining, Swearing, Tattoo Artist Willie, Tension, The Boys are oblivious, he's back at it again and willie isn't better, not sexual tension bc the author is asexy but it is tension alright, please don't quote me on accuracy i don't know shit about anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:13:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28282242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irratia/pseuds/Irratia
Summary: Alex has been crushing on Willie for almost two years at this point, ever since he walked into the coffee shop for the first time, wearing a tie dye crop top and showing off his tattoos, his long brown hair open and flowing over his shoulders.Alex had been a bit intimidated by Willie, until he’d opened his mouth and been gentle and polite in ordering, and had said hi, because Alex was a new employee he didn't know yet.And Alex, one week into an incredibly stressful job with too many people getting angry at him for not knowing their regular orders even though they said in the same fucking breath that he was a new face, had basically fallen for him immediately.(He’d also literally fallen for Willie, who’d run him over with his skateboard once, a few months later.)AKA the barista/tattoo artist au literally nobody asked for, in which alex finally gets a piercing and also the boy he likes
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Reggie, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 49
Kudos: 240





	taking the chance (making a move)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all!  
> This is both very self indulgent and dumb but it was fun, so yeah.  
> I blame this, in it's entirety, on AgnesClementine for making me aware of Owen's helix piercing, which made me crave getting one even more, but I can't because lockdown and also appointment-making-anxiety, so I am, once again, living vicariously through fictional characters.  
> I also got second hand rage through writing shitty customers so that was fun. Anyway, I do not claim for any of this to be accurate as I'm neither a barista nor have ever set foot inside a tattoo/ piercing studio, and while I went on an accidental piercing deepdive on youtube that was more about soothing my anxiety than anything.  
> I hope you enjoy!

“So,” Alex says, wiping down the counter, “I’ve been thinking about getting a tattoo,”

Luke, who up until this moment was entirely focused on his notebook and absentmindedly taking a drink of his coffee, chokes and coughs, spilling some of it in the process.

“I literally just cleaned that fucking countertop, you dick,” Alex groans. Luke frantically tries to wipe the coffee stains from his notebook with a napkin.

“Well, it’s your fault it’s dirty again, you can’t just spring something like that onto me without warning,” he shoots back.

“It’s just a thought,” Alex says. Luke stares at him.

“Oh yeah, ‘just a thought’” he says, in a mocking impression of Alex. “Just a normal thought about a tattoo,”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Alex asks, shoving the notebook out of the way so he can clean up the coffee. He hands Luke a new napkin as well, who glares at him and cradles the stained paper to his chest.

“Okay, first off: don’t be fucking rude to the notebook, it keeps us in business as a band. Secondly, you? A tattoo?”

“Pretty sure we’d survive without the barely used notebook. Also, yeah? Why not?” Alex says. Luke shoots him a look.

The door opens and a customer enters, a regular who always comes in at around half past one to order a large salted caramel frappe. They’re sweet, and tip well around the holidays. Alex takes their order and makes the drink, Luke keeps shifting in his chair, obviously itching to continue their discussion.  
It’s empty in the coffee shop Alex works at, as always around this time.  
Especially today though, because it’s Saturday and the business from people on their lunch breaks is missing.  
Not that Alex minds not being stressed out of his mind, which happens whenever he works in the morning during the week. And yes, he's aware that as someone with anxiety working as a barista isn't necessarily the smartest thing, or the obvious choice, but he needs the money and also it's basically confrontation therapy, as his therapist says. So. He still prefers business to be slow, and the shop to be almost empty, like right now.

Luke keeps him company, which he’s glad for. Mostly they do their thing in silence, Luke sitting at the counter and working on songs and Alex actually working, or restocking.  
His boss has also forbidden him from having conversations with Luke in the immediate vicinity to a customer after an ordeal in which some white woman in her 50’s had overheard Alex say ‘Holy shit’ in response to a story Luke had told.  
She’d then refused to let him make her drink, even though he was the only one on shift, but still wanted her drink, had him call his boss and accused him of being a satanist and hurting the constitution. It had been a whole thing, and nowadays it’s hilarious, but back in the moment Alex had been terrified of getting fired. His boss had just shaken his head after the woman had left the store and told him to avoid conversations with his friends in proximity to customers.  
And Luke, as annoying as he can be, also sticks to that rule because none of them want for Alex to get fired.  
The customer takes their order, tips Alex three whole dollars and leaves.

The second the door closes Luke opens his mouth again. “Do you mean like, a real one, or one of those fake Inkbox things?” he says.

“A real one, why would I want a fake one?”

Luke rolls his eyes and leans forward. “Because you’ve been wearing that fake Helix for a month,”

Self conscious, Alex raises his hand to touch the fake piercing on his right ear.

“I just wanted to see if I like it,” he says, defensively. Luke nods.  
“And that’s cool, dude, but really? An actual tattoo? After you lost your shit both times I got one, and when Reggie got his?”

That’s a fair point, actually. Alex had been freaking out when they decided to get their first tattoos, because he’d been reading on how many things could go wrong, and also what if they didn’t like the outcome, or didn’t like it anymore a few months or years later , or the tattoo artist was not actually that skilled?

“I mean- okay,” Alex says, for lack of better words.

“Is this because of Willie?” Luke asks, sighing. It’s Alex’s turn to choke, on his own spit, one might add, just as the door opens again.

“Is what because of Willie?” Julie asks, looking between them. She’s scheduled with Alex, until he gets off his shift, and normally he’d be happy to see her, but he knows that she’ll join in with Luke’s antics.

“Alex wants to get a tattoo. Also hi, babe,” Luke says immediately. Julie makes her way over to him and kisses him on the cheek, wrapping an arm around his back. She looks at Alex.

“Because of Willie?”

“No!” Alex protests, voice rising in pitch. “I just said I’m thinking about maybe getting one,”

“Hmm. And who would be the potential artist?” Julie asks, drily.

Luke keeps looking at her with absolute heart eyes, probably because she’s making fun of Alex with him. And because she’s amazing, but Luke always gets more dopey when she joins him in tormenting their friends.

“That doesn’t- okay. Why does it matter?” Alex says, trying to deflect. Julie gives him a grin and Luke wiggles his eyebrows.  
“It would probably be Willie,” Alex admits, sighing again.  
“Luke, shut up, it’s because I know that he’s good, and already sort of trust him, which I think would help getting one,” he adds, when his best friend opens his mouth.

“Are you sure it’s not because of your crush?” Luke asks, looking way too pleased with himself. Alex glares at him and is saved by another customer. In his periphery he sees Julie detaching herself from her boyfriend, and heading into the backroom.

He’s definitely not thinking of getting a tattoo just because of Willie, who works at the studio across the street. He really isn’t.  
But, well. It doesn’t hurt thatWillie is nice, and funny, and has a whole sleeve of gorgeous tattoos and lots of piercings in his ears, and wears crop tops and has long, brown hair and beautiful brown eyes and a nice laugh.  
So, maybe Alex has a crush, and maybe that makes him a bit dumb at times, because he’s spilled coffee on himself a few times already when Willie came into his shop, but he’s not dumb enough to get a tattoo because of him.

He tells Luke as much when the customer, a girl with deep bags under her eyes, settles in a faraway corner and puts on headphones, her large black coffee with an extra shot of espresso steaming next to the laptop she’s setting up.

“No, it doesn’t have anything to do with that. I thought about something that matches maybe, with you guys,” he says, twisting the cleaning rag in his hands. He's actually really intrigued by the idea of having something that will always connect him with his friends, his band. Luke softens immedieately.

“Oh shit bro, that’s actually so sweet," he says. Alex nods. "I kinda feel bad for making fun of you now,” Luke adds, not sounding sorry at all, and breaking the moment Alex thought they were having.  
“Also I texted Reggie, he’ll be here soon, and he’d probably be down for it,”

Now Alex groans. It’s hard not to talk when Reggie’s there, because he has an even harder time shutting up than Luke, and he also always pesters Alex for free food. Alex is also absolutely incapable of denying his best friend anything when he starts pleading with his damned puppydog eyes.

“Oh, yay, I love it when Reggie’s here,” Julie says from behind Alex. She’s changed into the black polo shirt with their shop’s logo on it, and tied her hair back into a poofy ponytail.

“Alex wants to get matching tattoos,” Luke informs her, grinning npw.  
“I said I was thinking about it!” Alex repeats, a bit louder.

“Yeah, so we’re getting matching tattoos,” Luke nods, proving that he has absolutely no listening comprehension.

“I said I was thinking about it, not that it’s a surefire thing,” Alex says, exasperated.

“Don’t kid yourself, you’re going to get pestered until you get the tattoo,” Julie says, and nudges him with her shoulder before she starts counting her register.

Alex would like to continue arguing against that, but she’s right, for one, and also a gaggle of teenagers spills in. It takes almost fifteen minutes to take all their orders, make their drinks and then two other customers come in immediately after and Alex is tremendously thankful for Julie being there. He’s focused on cleaning up some spilled milk from a damaged container, when the next customer comes in, Julie’s busy with washing up, and he doesn’t look up before greeting, not wanting to spill on the floor, because milk is really fucking sticky on shoesoles.

“Hi, welcome Coffee Grounds, how can I help you?” he rattles off, forcing himself to sound upbeat.

“Oh, customer voice, haven’t heard that one in a while,” the customer says, and Alex’s head snaps up. Willie’s smiling at him, unfairly pretty with his hair in a messy bun on the top of his head and the light is hitting him just at the right angle so that the brown in his eyes practically glows.

“Sorry,” Alex sighs, removing the forced happiness in his voice and replacing his fake smile with a real one. Willie shrugs.  
“The usual?” Alex asks, already writing it down on the tab the tattoo studio has here. Every few months they come in to pay it off. And he doesn't even need to ask, because Willie comes in often enough. Also Alex, as Coffee Grounds' resident gay remembered the order ever since Willie first ordered it.

“Yeah, thanks Hotdog,” Willie says, and smiles again, his voice going soft on the nickname.

“Must you call me that?” Alex whines. Willie snorts and winks at him.  
“Absolutely,”

Alex sighs again, but that’s a discussion he’s been having with Willie for almost a year now. He got the stupid nickname after coming into work with an absolutely ruined shirt because Reggie had decided to get loaded hotdogs and had tripped, right into Alex. The shirt still has stains, but Alex loves it too much to throw away, so he wears it at home. Willie had seen him in the shirt, which was humiliating as an experience in and of itself, and started making jokes about it. Hence, the nickname Hotdog. It'll probably haunt Alex forever.

“Hey Willie,” Luke calls from his seat at the counter further into the shop.  
“Luke! What’s up, dude?” Willie says, grinning and making his way over.

Alex shoots Luke a warning glare. Julie bumps her shoulder into his and grins, because she enjoys making fun of him for his crush almost as much as Luke does.  
Alex ignores them and starts making the hazelnut coffee Willie always drinks.  
He’s extra careful whenever he handles any of the condiments containing nuts, after the time he accidentally spilled some on himself, forgot about it and had an allergic reaction because of some traces of it made it into his own drink. He keeps his epipen with him, but after almost dying (he’s exaggerating) during his first week here it’s not an experience he really wants to live through again.

Luke’s chatting with Willie about their upcoming gig, when Alex hands the coffee off and leans on the counter opposite them. Willie’s sat himself down in the chair next to Luke, and takes the cup, brushing his fingers against Alex’s in the process.  
He’s been doing that a lot lately. Alex wonders whether it’s on purpose.

“Thank you,” Willie says, smiling at Alex. Alex spilled coffee the first time Willie smiled at him like that, which was not fun becuase that coffee had been _hot_.

He clears his throat. “No problem, anything exciting happen today?” Alex asks, trying his best not to blush, which doesn’t work because his cheeks still feel hot. Judging by Luke’s look he’s failing. Damn his pale skin. His fingers tingle where Willie touched him. Alex wants to scream.

“My appointment cancelled due to illness, so not really,” Willie says, still looking at Alex with a soft smile on his lips. Luke's eyes keep darting between them. He's probably having a field day with this.

“Ah man, I’m sorry, that sucks,” Alex says, unable to look away. He starts fiddling with the ring on his right pointerfinger, to avoid pulling at the skin around his nails.

“Yeah, I mean, at least I get to have a longer break now,” Willie says, and his smile widens for a second, and he’s still looking at Alex.

“Oh, and you choose to spend that here?” Luke asks, breaking the tension between them. Willie turns his head to look at him, hopefully missing the way Luke winks at Alex, and the curious grin on his face.

“To escape other customers? Yes. Also the coffee and the company is good here,” Willie answers, looking back at Alex for the second part of his sentence. Alex clears his throat uncomfortably. Behind Willie Luke wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. Alex wants to throttle him.

“Ah, fuck,” Julie curses behind him, and Alex turns around to see her struggling with restocking one of the higher shelves with their housemade hot chocolate mixes. “Alex, a little help? This place was not made with short people in mind,” she huffs.

Alex snorts. “Most people aren’t as short as you, Jules,” he says, but goes to help her.

“Most people aren’t as freakishly tall as you, ‘Lex,” she imitates.

“I’m not even that tall,” he protests, but does the work anyway, while Julie takes care of the two customers coming in.

Willie and Luke start talking among themselves, and Alex prays to the god he doesn’t believe in anymore, that his friend shuts the fuck up about anything potentially embarassing. He finishes restocking, throws away the packaging and turns to see if Julie’s doing okay, which she is, because she’s lovingly going through the pastries to find damaged ones, surely to give to Luke. They basically feed not only themselves but also their friends with the stuff offered here, which is supplied by a local bakery. Their boss allows them to, as well, saying that he'd rather they eat them than let the food go to waste.

Some of his hair falls into his face as he watches her, and he pushes it back, holding it for a second in the hopes of it staying somewhere out of his face.  
It doesn’t work, mostly because he hears someone choke and cough behind him, and he whips around to snap at Luke, before seeing that Willie is the one spluttering, and spilling more coffee on his clean counter.

“Are you okay?” Luke asks, but there’s an edge to his voice that Alex knows too well. He’s seen something and is amused.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just got it down the wrong pipe,” Willie says, still coughing, growing red in the face.  
Alex grabs his cleaning rag and hurries over.

“You okay?” he asks, again, because this isn’t usually something that happens to Willie. Alex is normally the one to embarass himself, spilling coffee or choking on air, tripping, walking into the counter on two humiliating occasions because Willie wore a croptop.

“Yeah,” Willie says, sounding sheepish. “I’m sorry about spilling,” he adds apologetically.

Alex waves it off: “That’s- that’s okay,”

Willie is lucky he’s cute, because if it were literally anybody else, Alex would be pissed. The amout of times people are too dumb to grab their drinks or pastries without making a mess seconds after he’s just wiped the counter down is infuriating.

“It wasn’t okay when I spilled my coffee,” Luke says, sounding offended.

“That’s because you’re a menace and saw me cleaning the counter not ten seconds before you spilled it,” Alex says, drily, and continues soaking up spilled coffee. He should probably make a new one for Willie, with the amount wasted.  
He has to lean forward a bit, over the counter, to get all the liquid and comes dangerously close to Willie in the process, who moves his cup aside.

“I didn’t know you had a helix piercing,” Willie says, suddenly. His voice is still a bit raspy from coughing, but when Alex looks up and comes almost face to face with him his eyes are soft and there’s curiosity in them.

“Uhm-” Alex says, because he’s smart, and an adult, and knows how to act around cute guys.

“When did you get it done? And where? I could have done it for you, a lot cheaper probably,” Willie continues. Alex isn’t sure if he’s imagining it, but Willie looks a bit disappointed? Crestfallen?  
“Uhm,” he says again.

“It’s fake,” Luke says, leaning over Willie’s shoulder,  
“Huh,” Willie says, still looking curious. Luke opens his mouth again.

“I uh- I wanted to see what it looks like before getting one,” Alex cuts in, desperate to explain himself, before the other boy starts saying something that'll reveal to Willie that he's just been to nervous to speak to him to get an appointment for the piercing. He knows he wants the piercing, and what he's saying is half true, but he decided he likes the way it looks the second he put it on.

“You’ve been wearing it for a month, you should have decided by now,” Luke deadpans. Alex is going to poison him one day.

“I think it looks good,” Willie says.

“See?” Luke says, grinning, and wiggling his eyebrows again. Alex should shave them off.

“I just haven’t gotten around to make an appointment yet,” Alex says, once again, not a lie, but also not the entire truth.

“Your shift ends when, at three?” Willie asks, perking up.  
“I- yeah,”  
“I have time then, if you want,” Willie says, offering Alex a gentle smile.

Luke starts beaming behind him.

“I-” Alex starts, trying to find a reason to say no, but there is none. He’s been wanting a Helix for ages now, and if Willie offers him time to do it now, well. He doesn't have to run circles in his room for an hour before working up the courage to asking.  
“Yeah, you know what? Okay. Okay. Thanks,” he says, nodding himself into faked confidence. Willie beams.

Then the door bursts open and Reggie practically slides in, red patches on his face, almost bouncing with excitement. The idiot probably ran here, forgetting he owns a bike.

“Reggie!” Julie says, delighted, she's been following this conversation with interest. He grins at her, tries to catch his breath and turns his gaze to Alex, then sees Willie and gets more excited, if that’s even possible.

“We’re getting matching tattoos!” he says. Or, well. Almost yells.

“Fucking stop screaming, you’re not the only person in here, we’ve got actual customers,” Alex hisses.

“You’re getting tattooed now as well? Damn, Hotdog, turning into a rockstar at last,” Willie says drily and sends him a lopsided smirk. Alex blushes, because of fucking course he does.

“I’m not- Luke, what the fuck did you tell Reggie,”

“That you wanted to get a tattoo, finally,” Luke singsons and gives Alex his most innocent smile.

“I said I was thinking about it,” Alex snaps at him.  
A real customer comes in, and he takes it, switching into his service persona immediately. With Julie there it’s easier, because she already starts on the drink while Alex does the actual customer interaction. It’s a bit less stressful.

“It’s so creepy how he can just go into this smiley mode all of a sudden,” Reggie stage whispers the second the customer’s sat down out of earshot.

“Julie does it too,” Alex says, turning back around to the three guys watching him.

“Yeah, but Julie is generally nicer than you,” Luke mumbles into his cup, ducking out of reflex. If he weren't at work right now Alex would throw something at him, so that's a good call.

“Fuck off,”

“Case in point,”

“It’s because I have manners,” Julie singsongs, and she grins at Alex as she joins him in talking to the guys.

“You don’t, Molina, I’ve played Monopoly with you,” he says, and she rolls her eyes.  
“Everyone knows you lose your sanity with Monopoly, that doesn’t count,”

“You threw yourself over the table to strangle me and called me a ‘disgusting piece of shit undeserving of attention’ when Luke held you back,” Alex says drily. Julie can be pretty terrifying when she wants to be, but he’s never been genuinely scared for his life, except that one time.

“You told me landing both on Park Place and Boardwalk in the same round was my fault for making a bad throw,” she huffs.

“He wasn’t wrong,” Reggie says and Julie whips around to him. Alex is suddenly aware that they’re being watched in their discussion by Luke, Reggie and more importantly Willie, who’s looking very amused. He raises an eyebrow when he catches Alex's gaze.

“Reggie, I will crush you the next time we have game night,” Julie threatens, and Alex watches as Reggie shrinks back from her, apologizing.  
“Alright babe, calm down, we were talking about tattoos with Alex,” Luke interrupts, patting the other on the shoulder.

“You guys are intense,” Willie says and chuckles. Luke gasps, but Alex cuts him off.   
“Yeah, uh,” he says, and leans on the counter on his arms shifting towards Willie. “We used to have game night every few weeks, but Julie and Flynn were getting too intense, so we’re doing it bi-monthly,” he explains.

“Flynn?” Willie asks. Luke is grinning again, and Julie turns to look at them with piqued interest, from where she'd been saying something to Reggie that Alex didn't catch because Willie's talking to him and he tends to get very focused on that.

“Julie’s best friend, she does our social media, she’s this really pretty black girl with braids and bright clothing that comes in sometimes? You’ve definitely seen her,” Alex says.

“She’s also dating Carrie Wilson, who I think you know,” Julie adds, nudging Alex in the side with her elbow. He doesn’t understand why, and he also doesn’t understand why suddenly Willie looked a bit upset until she said it.

“Oh yeah! Flynn! She’s dope,” Willie nods, now back to his smiling, normal self.

“Julie, Flynn and Carrie are literally terrifying when they set their mind on something,” Reggie says.

“I can imagine,” Willie says and smiles at Julie, who nods, looking satisfied.

“Okay, tattoos, Alex, what were you thinking of?” Luke interrupts, turning to stare at him intently.  
Alex is once again saved by a customer, he thinks, until the customer turns out to be an asshole who can’t say ‘hello’, ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ and keeps clicking her fingernails on the counter until she’s done, which is irritating. Both because he can’t stand noises like that, they tend to remind him of his mom and trigger some anxiety, and also because Julie is literally done with the drink in a minute, so the woman doesn’t even have to wait long. She grabs her cup impatiently and looks annoyed while walking out.

“I fucking hate people,” Alex groans the second she’s out the door.

“Except us,” Reggie says, making puppy eyes at him. He sighs.  
“Except you.”

“Sweet, but back to the most important thing, now that we have a professional with us, what were you thinking of tattoo wise?” Luke says, and claps Willie on the back, when he looks about to protest.

“Something matching for us, because, band,” Alex says, avoiding Willie’s eyes, because he also keeps looking at Alex like, a lot.  
“Bro, you gotta be more specific,” Luke says.

Alex rolls his eyes again. “I get that, and I know that, Lucas, but I said I was thinking about getting a tattoo, not that I was definitely going to get one. Also maybe something with ghosts, ‘cause we’re like. Phantoms, y’know?” he trails off a bit, because that’s dumb, and just because they’re in a band that’s called Julie and the Phantoms now doesn’t mean they’ll always be and-

“That’s actually a really good idea,” Luke says, sounding surprised, an enthusiastic grin spreading over his face.

“Yeah, I do get those occasionally, no need to be so surprised,” Alex says. Reggie seems to be thinking, and Julie slides a plate with broken and crumbling pastries over the counter, but she nudges Alex’s hips with hers and nods approvingly.

“We could get like, ghostly figures with our instruments on them, or something, that’d be so cool,” Reggie says slowly, then grabs half of a croissant that's been squished almost flat.

“Would that actually be doable?” Alex asks Willie who looks pensive, not wanting to overwhelm the other or get too excited about something that couldn’t happen anyway. Willie’s eyes snap to his and he gives Alex a small smile and a nod.  
“Yeah, definitely. I can think of something, I’m sure,”

“I know it’s Julie and the Phantoms, not Julie is a Phantom plus some guys, but I kinda want to join that, it sounds like super cool motif,” Julie says, leaning into Alex who automatically wraps an arm around her shoulder.

“Especially with Willie’s talent,” Alex says, nodding, before he can think, and then immediately wants to go into the backroom and scream, because why in the fuck can he not keep his stupid fucking mouth shut? He doesn't need to announce that he's in awe of Willie's capabilities right to his face, godamnit.

“You think I’m talented?” Willie asks, and for once he’s not smiling in his usual easy, open way, there’s something more to his expression that Alex can’t read. Behind him Reggie snickers to himself and Luke rolls his eyes.

“Yeah. I mean- yeah, I’ve seen your work, and I already know you so you’d obviously do the tattoo, only if you want to, of course, but you’re crazy skilled and- I should stop talking, okay,” Alex, well, stammers really, and avoids looking at Willie again.  
Julie gives him a _look_ and shakes her head slightly, smiling to herself the way she always does when one of them is being dumb again. Willie nods, and grins.

“I’d be honoured to do your first tattoo, Hotdog. And Julie, too, because I don’t think you have any either?”

Julie nods and sends a blinding smile to Willie. “It will be, I always kind of wanted one but didn’t know what, so this is great!” she says.

Willie laughs at that, and Alex just needs a hot second because the light in the coffee shop is warm and golden, and Willie practically glows in it and his laugh is very cute, and so is he. It’s really unfair to him that he’s expected to work when Willie is here, because how’s he supposed to function?  
Reggie notices his staring and nudges Luke and now they’re definitely going to make fun of him later. But it’s kind of worth it, Alex thinks, because he’s rarely felt more comfortable at work than he does right now, with his best friends here, and a very attractive guy who he’s going to see after.

The hour until he gets off passes quickly, and Willie stays, sitting at the counter and chatting with the guys, assuring them that he knows his time and can be here. Alex and Julie get a bit busier, as more people come in, but it’s still fairly relaxed compared to other times he works.  
The guy scheduled to take over for him comes in a bit late, with no message, as usual, and Alex changes back into his pink hoodie and picks up his bag from the staffroom, checks himself in the mirror and uses extra deodorant before leaving.

“Looking hot, Mercer,” Reggie calls the second he’s in sight again. Willie, thank god, isn’t paying them any mind, too caught up in talking to Luke.

“Shut the fuck up, Reginald, or I will not buy you pizza later,” Alex hisses, pulling him to the side.

“You were gonna buy me pizza?”

“I'm still going to, dumbass,” Alex says, because if there’s one thing Reggie loves more than Star Wars it’s pizza (not including the band, they’re the top spot in Reggie’s heart, and Alex’s, too) and he gets genuinely heartbroken if he doesn’t get it after being promised.

“Have I ever told you I love you?” 

“Yeah, love you too, Reg,”

“Are you sure you’ll be fine with this? I can come along for your piercing, if you want,” Reggie, dear sweet Reggie, says, getting more serious, and with a quieter voice. Both of them look in Willie’s direction, who’s noticed Alex and is looking at him now, an open and easy smile on his face. Alex blushes a bit under his gaze and looks back to Reggie.

“I think it’s going to be fine, Reg. I know Willie well enough by now, and if I panic too much he’ll at least know how to help,” he says. Reggie nods and gives him a soft smile, before hugging Alex.

“I’m proud of you, buddy. Look at you go and doing something out of your comfort zone,”

“Stop, I’m not getting emotional right now,” Alex says, but hugs back. His heart goes out to Reggie, who somehow often manages to be the most in tune with Alex’s emotions. All of his friends get him, he doesn't think he'd love them as much if they didn't, but Reggie notices stuff more than anybody Alex knows, and so he's often the first to sense a shift in any of them, but especially Alex, and especially to the worse.  
Reggie claps him on the shoulder when they part, and follows Alex to the counter where he hugs Julie goodbye, and then Luke, as if they won’t all see each other in a few hours. Reggie and Luke will probably stay to pester Julie until she gets off, and then go home to their apartment.

“You ready?” Willie asks, standing up and fist bumping Luke and Reggie. Alex nods, but he knows he looks uncertain, and Willie definitely sees it, too.  
“Remember, you can say no at any point, Hotdog, but I think it’d look really good on you,” Willie adds. Alex feels his face heat up.

“Yeah, okay, I want this,” he says.

“Yeah, you'll finally be attractive and get all the boys you want!” Luke teases, the fucking asshole. 

Alex full on blushes, but he doesn’t miss the way Willie’s eyebrows shoot up and the small, almost hopeful smile that settles on his lips.   
Huh.   
That’s something.

Because yeah, Alex has been crushing on Willie for almost two years at this point, ever since he walked into the coffee shop for the first time, wearing a tie dye crop top and showing off his tattoos, his long brown hair open and flowing over his shoulders.   
Alex had been a bit intimidated by Willie, until he’d opened his mouth and been polite in ordering, and had said hi, because Alex was a new employee.   
And Alex, one week into an incredibly stressful job with too many people getting angry at him for not knowing their regular orders even though they said in the same fucking breath that he was a new face, had basically fallen for him immediately.   
(He’d also literally fallen for Willie, who’d run him over with his skateboard once, a few months later.)

And Willie had come in every other day or so, only ordering and making very polite smalltalk at first. Until one day, when Alex had had a panic attack because things were too much and too loud, and the constant onslaught of rude and tired customers blaming him for their situation at seven in the morning had weighed down on his anxiety even more.   
He’d barely gotten through the hour of no pause and just so managed to stumble outside, where he’d sort of hidden beside the trashcans and tried to calm the fuck down. Willie had seen him from across the street and helped, talked him down.

After that they’d actually started talking when Alex was at work. Luke and Reggie had gotten their tattoos and dragged Alex with them, which led to him awkwardly sitting in the tattoo studio holding their hands while Willie worked and he stared at him.   
So yeah, they’d been what one could consider good acquaintances, or maybe even friends, with moments that had Alex believing maybe Willie was interested in him, too, but he’d never actually been sure.

Not that he’s sure now, but it’s definitely something, the way Willie seemed to sit up a bit straighter, the way he’s watching Alex now.

“Luke, dear, if you don’t shut your mouth I will get you blacklisted,” he says now, smiling at Luke sweetly.  
Luke throws his hands up, but grins. “I’m just saying, that-”

“Okay, let’s go,” Alex says, louder, because he trusts Luke with not actually spilling the beans, but also doesn’t need to see how far he’ll actually go. The guy has no subletly whatsover, and the only reason it took Julie and him so long to get together was her cluelessness.   
Luke winks at him, and Willie smiles and nods. Alex waves a goodbye to his friends as they cross the threshold.

A ball of anxiety drops in his stomach the second he steps onto the street, the warmth and smell of Coffee Grounds behind the closing door replaced by a breeze and the smell of the city.   
It’s the first time he’ll actually be spending free time with Willie, because it has just been the two of them, occasionally, when Willie was the only one in the shop with him around closing time. But he’d always been working, and he guesses that in theory now it’s Willie who’ll be the one working but it feels different. He shoves his hands in his pockets and takes a deep breath.

“You okay?” Willie asks, throwing him a questioning glance. He's scarily intuitive when it comes to Alex's anxiety.

“Yeah, just the usual anxiety making me question whether this is a smart decision,” Alex explains.

Willie nods then gives him a reassuring smile. “Again, I’m not going to do anything you don’t want to do,” he says before looking both ways and crossing the street. Alex follows close on his heels, not wanting to get hit by a car or left on the wrong side, because if he doesn’t do this now, he probably never will.

“I want to, I’m just anxious,” he says.

“I know Hotdog, but I’m just trying to reassure you here,” Willie nods and they reach the tattoo studio. Willie holds the door for him.

Alex’s anxiety skyrockets the second he’s inside. Some Nirvana song is playing, that Luke would recognize immediately, and there’s a guy behind the register, doodling. His arms are covered in tattoos and there are lots earrings which glint in the sharp white light. He looks up at the sound of them entering.

“Willie, was your break successful?” he asks, with a smile and a calming voice, before his eyes fall onto Alex. The smile widens into a grin as he looks between them. Alex takes his hands out of the pockets and nervously cracks his knuckles.

“Alex, right? Willie’s told me a lot about you,” the guy says, and continues grinning in a way that reminds Alex a lot of Luke just now.

“I- he has? Also yeah, I’m Alex, I guess,” Alex isn’t able to hide his surprise very well and trails off with a little "okay,", not knowing what else to say.

He’s seen the guy once or twice, but really, it usually is only Willie who comes into Coffee Grounds to get coffee for himself or the crew working across the street. When Alex is working, anyway.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Bobby,” the guy says. He shakes Alex’s hand and grins, and Alex notices his red suspenders and painted nails and the tattoo of a guitar on his right biceps and something clicks.

“Wait, Bobby, like Bobby Wilson?” he asks.

“You know each other?” Willie butts in, sounding surprised, while Bobby nods, seeming as dumbfounded as Alex was a minute ago.

“No, not really, but Reggie does,” Alex says, and tries not to grin, because Reggie has been talking about Bobby non-stop since he went to get his septum pierced. For some reason Alex just hasn’t made the connection yet.

“Oh, you’re also Reggie’s Alex?” Bobby says, then grins. “Small world, he talks about you a lot,”

“Same goes for you,” Alex says, and immediately notices the blush creeping up Bobby’s neck.

“Huh,” Willie says, still standing next to Alex. A quick glance at him reveals an intrigued look on his face.

“So what’re you planning to do, Alex?” Bobby asks, leaning onto the counter and intertwining his fingers.

“I’m finally getting a helix piercing,” he admits, looking at Willie who shoots him a grin and gives him a thumbs up. Bobby nods, and Alex can totally see why Reggie doesn’t shut up about him. He's attractive, but Willie is in the same room, so Alex is biased.

“Nice, dude,” Bobby nods. Alex does too, still feeling slightly awkward, with anxiety bubbling inside of him.  
“Well, I won’t keep you two any longer, have fun,” Bobby adds and Alex looks to Willie who nods in the direction of the back, where there are multiple doors.

“Do I pay now or later?” Alex asks, suddenly unsure of doing anything wrong.

“Later,” Willie says. He gives Alex another encouraging smile and begins mocing, and so he follows.   
They walk past art displays on the walls and Willie, once again, holds the door open for him. The room is smaller, and fluorescent light shines down once Willie switches the light on.

“You can put your bag and everything there on the chair,” Willie says, gesturing to it in the corner, “And then we’ll talk placement and what exactly you want, okay?”

“Sure, okay,” Alex follows instructions, and then feels a bit lost standing in the room, twisting his fingers, while Willie rifles through some drawers in the counter-drawer combination that's against the backwall. There’s another chair, albeit a more sophisticated one in the middle of the room, that reminds Alex a bit of a dentist's chair, only without all the gadgets.

“C’mon, sit down,” Willie says, and smiles at Alex, and his soft voice and gentle smile manage to relax Alex a bit.  
“So, you can get a stud or a hoop, but I'd recommend a stud for the initial piercing, it helps with healing if the cartilage is around a straight rod, rather than a curve, you know?" Willie says, leaning against the counter. Alex nods.  
"Once it's all healed you can get a hoop no problem, and in the end it's your decision," Willie adds. Alex nods again. Willie's still smiling and Alex gets a bit caught up in that, before he realizes that Willie wants him to make a decision.

"Then I'll start with a stud," he says. Willie gives him a thumbs up and grins.

"Have you decided on a material yet? Gold, Platinum? Or are you allergic to any metal?” he asks, still leaning against the counter.

“Uh- no. I mean, I’m not allergic to anything, far as I know. And I don’t know yet, really,” Alex admits, and takes one of his rings off to twist in his fingers, so he doesn’t start pulling at the already loose threads of his shirts. He should have planned this better, didn't he already settle on something? Is Willie going to think he's annoying now?

“I mean, it’s your decision, but I think gold would look good on you. Fit with your necklace and hair, y’know?” Willie suggests, watching Alex intently.  
Alex stares for a second, because did Willie just indirectly say his hair is golden? Then he nods.  
“Gold, yeah. I like that. Okay,” he says.

“You sure?” Willie looks at him, scrutinizing him. Alex nods. He remembers wanting gold, precisely because of his necklace, and the fake piercing is also coated in the material, so.  
Willie looks satisfied with that, and pushes himself off the counter, to the sink in the corner, where he washes his hands thoroughly. Then he puts on blue gloves and starts selecting things from drawers, while Alex watches. Willie starts talking through what exactly he is going to do, what Alex has to consider in terms of aftercare, what he can expect.  
He shows Alex as small, simple, golden stud.

"1,2 milimeters, that's the standard," he explains.

Alex nods. It all makes him nervous. What if it doesn’t ever heal correctly? Does he just take the piercing out then, to let his ear heal, or not? And what happens if he turns over in his sleep, because Willie said he can’t sleep on this side of his ear, will that ruin it? And-

“Hey, Alex, it’s going to be fine, I promise. We see each other often enough, I can check up on the healing process and change it for you, if you want. The only clients I’ve had where it really gets infected are those who don’t listen to what I tell them, and you seem responsible enough not to do that,” Willie interrupts his train of thoughts that is dangerously close to falling off the edge into a spiral of anxiety.  
“Again, if you’re not sure, we don’t have to do this,” he adds, in his gentle voice and with a reassuring smile and earnest eyes.

Alex wants this, has been for some time. And he knows he can trust Willie. “No, no it’s fine. I got this, right?”

“You got this, we both got this. I do this everyday,” Willie says, still with a gentle voice and soft smile. 

Alex nods. "Okay,"

"That's what I like to hear. Now, do you know where you want it?" Willie asks.  
Alex points to where the fake piercing is still stuck on his ear, then grows embarassed he still hasn't take it off and does so, hurriedly.

“Okay, can you get your hair away from your ear for a sec? I’m gonna mark the spot so you can see if that is actually where you want it,” Willie says, and he hasn't stopped smiling at Alex, even as he leans in close, a pen in hand.   
Alex frantically pushes his hair behind his ear. Holy shit, Willie is so close. He makes the dot on Alex’s ear, then grabs a handheld mirror to show Alex where it is.  
“Is that good? Be honest, I don’t want you to do something you might regret,” Willie says.

“I like it,” Alex answers. By now he’s slipped his ring back on his finger and is twisting his hands together again.

“Are you really sure about this?” Willie asks, again, looking at Alex with his honest and warm dark brown eyes and a slight smile, his face framed by wayward strands of chocolate coloured hair. Alex nods and swallows.

“Yeah,” he says. Willie’s smile broadens.

“Nice. So, I’m just gonna clean that area real quick,” he says and waves the wipe in front of Alex’s face, before softly pushing the loose hair away from Alex’s ear again and wiping it down.   
Alex watches him out of the corner of his eyes, because it’s the only thing that’s keeping him from losing his mind right then and there.

For multiple reasons he feels like he is. For one, he’s actually getting a piercing. That’s scary.   
Also Willie’s face is incredibly close to his, moreso that might strictly be necessary, and he somehow manages to look stunning under white LED lights, while Alex knows he immediately looks like a corpse under any white light.

Willie looks at him again, raising his eyebrows in question. Alex just nods, and forces a smile. Willie picks up the needle and a piece of cork.

“We don’t want this to get stuck in your scalp or my finger,” he explains, winking at Alex.

“We really don’t,” Alex says, nodding.

“This is going to be really fast, okay? Just lean back and talk to me, and when I tell you, you’ll take a deep breath,” Willie says.

“What should I talk about?” Alex asks, sucking in a sharp breath, when Willie’s gloved finger brushes against his cheek as he leans back against the headrest.

“Stray hairs,” Willie says apologetically “Also whatever, really. Just to distract you, I don’t really want you hyperventilating. Tell me about how you know of Bobby,”

Alex breathes out and grins. Now this is something he can talk about, and something that actually distracts him the tiniest bit.   
“Reggie talks about him a lot, like, a lot. I don’t actually know Bobby myself, but he’s the cousin of a friend’s girlfriend, and Reggie met him through her, but also saw him in here, and now he doesn’t stop talking about him,” 

“Bobby kept telling me about a cute bassist he met, but I didn’t really make the connection between that and Reggie,” Willie says, mirroring Alex's expression, obviously just as delighted by the situation as Alex.

“Yeah, I didn’t realize either, until I actually saw Bobby,” Alex agrees. “It’s good to know that the interest is mutual, Reg doesn’t have the best history with his infatuations, and I can’t see him have his heart broken again,” he continues, forcing his eyes away from the needle in Willie’s fingers.

He settles on the other’s face instead, the way his brows crinkle a bit, the lenght of his lashes, and how well they frame his eyes.

“Yeah, I get that. Bobby isn’t really much of a flirt, so when he does like someone it’s kinda serious. Deep breath in now,” Willie says, voice calm and gentle. Alex closes his eyes, presses the fingers of his right hand into the back of his left and breathes in.

The pain really is less than what he thought it would be, but he can feel the needle go through his ear. He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to focus on the low murmur of Willie’s voice.

“See, the worst part is already over, and you’re doing great! I’m just going to put in the stud now, you might feel that." Willie explains while going through the motions.  
"I’m glad you came here, I know the studio two streets over still uses pistols, which is just bad and dumb. Infections galore with those kinds of things. We get a lot of their clients who are looking for help because their piercings got infected. And, you’re done!” he says, louder now, and Alex cracks an eye open to see that he's leaning back a bit and grinning at him, looking satisfied.

“You can open your eyes now, Hotdog, all done, the needle's gone,” Willie says, peeling off the gloves, and moving away for a second, to throw them away.

Alex peers at him, really not wanting to see the needle because while he doesn't really have anything against them, the thought of it going through his ear is just weird and uncomfortable.

“And exhale, you’re very red,” Willie adds, turning back around to him. Alex exhales a shaky breath.  
“There you go,” Willie says softly, proudly, almost and picks up the handheld mirror again. He gives it to Alex, but keeps a gentle hold on it, getting close again. “Take a look,”

Willie softly pulls some strands Alex’s hair away from his ear, because it doesn't really stay tucked behind, ever. Alex sees the golden jewellery glint at him.  
“Holy shit,” he breathes. “It looks so good,”

“I told you it would,” Willie says, his voice lower and quiet.   
When Alex turns his head slightly he can see that Willie is watching him intently. He feels heat creep up his cheeks. They're so close he can smell the cologne Willie wears and count the few freckles dotting his nose.

“You did,” Alex agrees, just as quiet, and he can't stop looking at Willie now, who still has his fingers in his hair, and his other hand on the mirror, over Alex's.

“Now you can go out and get all the boys you want, if Luke is to be believed,” Willie, well, whispers really. Alex watches as Willie’s eyes search his face. He clears his throat. Now's the chance he's been waiting for, for forever.

“There really is only one guy I want, though,” he says softly. Willie’s eyes widen in surprise, and then they flit over Alex’s face, again, a soft smile spreading over his face.

“Yeah?” he asks, quietly, a hopeful note to his voice.

Alex nods. This is it, should be it. He doesn’t really know how to make his intentions any more clear than this.   
But Willie doesn’t say anything more, just watches him, and he starts to get nervous.   
Seconds tick by, and Alex is so close to apologizing and scooting away, forgetting this whole thing and paying, going home and screaming into a pillow before he quits his job so he never has to face Willie again, he’s so close to all of that, when Willie finally says something else.

“Are you free for the rest of the day? Like, for a date,” he sounds a bit hesitant, shy, almost, and keeps searching Alex’s face for something.  
Alex feels like he could burst from the rush of relief and absolute happiness that floods him.

“Yeah, absolutely,” he says, and a stupid grin spreads over his face, and holy shit, is this actually happening?  
“Great,” Willie says, also grinning and looking giddy. And then: “Holy shit, I’ve been wanting to do that for so long!”

“You could have just asked!” Alex exclaims, and can't help but laugh. Also he has no room to judge, because he, too, could have just asked.

“I didn’t know if you were into guys, much less into me!” Willie protests, laughing in embarrassment, and it's too cute, the way he looks away, and the loose strands of his hair flying around his face.

“You thought I was _straight_?” Alex asks, incredulous.

“Well, no. I had my suspicions, but, you know. You can never be sure,” Willie says, still sounding embarassed. Alex snorts.

“I do my best not to look straight, thank you very much,”

“You’re succeeding. The piercing definitely helps,”

“I’m glad to know that,” Aley grins. He can’t stop smiling, and Willie looks to be the same, smiling, and smiling, and looking at Alex. He feels warm, and happy, and his ear hurts a bit, but he doesn't even mind. Because looks stunning, and Willie wants to go out on a date with him, how the fuck did he manage that? They sit for a minute, and when they stop giggling about their own stupidity, and finish up their business he keeps stealing looks at Willie, who keeps looking back. And Alex finally knows what these looks that he's been wondering about for months, mean.  
Willie takes his hand when they leave, after saying goodbye to Bobby, and he intertwines their fingers. Alex loves the feeling of their fingers slotted together, and he finally pushes a loose strand of hair behind Willie's ear, like he's been itching to do for so long, and they wander off.

Reggie isn’t even mad that Alex doesn’t buy him pizza that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Willie absolutely fucking spilled his coffee because he saw Alex's fake piercing and found it attractive, no I do not take criticsim.  
> I can't believe I want to write a follow up to this, as if I haven't got 10 other WIPs, a whole series and a longer fic planned.... But Meg/A-Tomb-With-A-View made me aware of Bobby/Reggie as a top-tier ship and I have literally no impulse control, so we'll have to see what happens  
> Christmas happened for me already and it was ✨shit✨, so I'll be spending my time eating and writing, expect more of my bullshit in the next few days. :D  
> (if I made any mistakes in grammar or smth i'm sorry, i'm not a native speaker)  
> if you wanna chat/scream about JATP, or anything, really, you can find me on Tumblr as [on-irratia](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/on-irratia)  
> Thank you so much for reading, and have a nice day! :D <3


End file.
